Paris — It was July 14, 2016 in France, which was Bastille Day. Approximately 30,000 people gathered on Nice’s Promenade des Anglais that night to view the usual fireworks display commemorating a national holiday.
The promenade road along the French Riviera was closed for the evening. A truck suddenly came on the road and began smashing through the gathering at 56 kilometers per hour. As people ran in horror, the driver swerved multiple times on purpose in order to strike the greatest number of pedestrians possible.
Several times, the truck mounted the sidewalk to escape police obstacles set to prevent vehicles from entering the festivities.
Before the police were ultimately able to stop the truck, it had proceeded 1.5 miles along the Riviera’s seafront. The driver was fatally shot on the scene.
There were a total of 86 fatalities, including 10 children and adolescents. Another 300 were injured. Among the victims were children who had been permitted to remain up late to see the fireworks, international students spending the summer in France, and devastated local families.
A vehicle crashes into a crowd in Nice, France. 21 pics
Nick Leslie, age 21, participated in a summer study abroad program in Nice, France. He had gone to the Promenade des Anglais to witness the Bastille Day fireworks with some of his program friends. The students were separated as a result of the truck plowing through the gathering.
Nick was found to be among the deceased by forensics experts three days after his pals posted “missing” flyers on lampposts in the hope that he would come up.
Texas visitors Sean Copeland, 51, and his 11-year-old son Brodie were also slain.
The following day, the promenade was closed as police investigated the incident. The road was littered with unambiguous indications that something horrific had occurred: broken champagne glasses, massive bloodstains, and a single high-heeled shoe without its owner.
On Monday, six years later, the trial of eight individuals accused of aiding 31-year-old Tunisian Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel in preparing his murderous attack began in Paris.
France elevates its security alert level to maximum after a possible terrorist incident. 02:17
ISIS claimed that the truck driver was responding to its appeals to target nationals of countries fighting against its self-proclaimed “caliphate” in Syria and Iraq, although no definitive link between the organisation and the assailant has ever been found.
The attack occurred only eight months after the series of horrific attacks in Paris in November 2015, leaving the nation on edge. In 2015 and early 2016, French counterterrorism authorities stopped a number of terror plots, they added. A separate inquiry is also ongoing to investigate if additional precautions should have been taken to protect individuals that night in Nice.
Bouhlel, along with several of the defendants, resided in Nice. The eight accused are on trial for a variety of offenses, including firearms charges, criminal affiliation with a terrorist organization, and aiding Bouhlel in renting the truck he used. The charges entail potential life sentences in prison.
The trial is being held in the courthouse in downtown Paris that was constructed expressly for the November 2015 attacks case, which concluded earlier this year. There are 850 civil parties involved in this dispute, including victims’ families and survivors. Most reside in Nice. Others will be able to follow the proceedings from Nice, where a special annex has been put up to carry a live feed from the court in Paris. The hearings will not be seen to the rest of the world, as French legislation prohibits press cameras in courts.
2015 will see suspects on trial. Paris terrorist assault begins at 10:18
Jean-Claude Hubler is the head of the “Life for Nice” organization. That night, he was on the beach when he heard the ruckus. He stated that he understood it was an attack and rushed to assist.
“I held her hand until she passed away,” he recalled. “That is difficult, and I had to cover her afterwards. A nearby parent was cleaning up the body of his recently deceased daughter. A nurse was applying a tourniquet to a bleeding patient located further down. One thing followed another. A beach employee provided us with beach towels to cover the bodies.”
Like many from Nice, he recognizes that Bouhlel had to be stopped that night, but a portion of him wishes he had survived to face trial.
“It would have been preferable for him to be present and accept responsibility for his actions,” Hubler told Reuters. Whatever the circumstances, we have faith in the legal system.
The study duration is fifteen weeks. The projected verdict date is December 16.